Yuan’s Ascension

After acquiring the Black Devil Star from High Immortal Zhuo Hao, Wu Yuan immediately chose to flee, intending to return to the Spacetime Island as quickly as possible.

However, like most areas in the Inner Region of the Snowlight Mist Realm, the Myriad Mountains Ice Plain suppressed spacetime fluctuations, making it impossible to enter the Fragmentary Spatial Layer unless one had the ability to enter the Turbulent Spatial Layer directly.

Additionally, during his escape, Wu Yuan fell into a complex array trap, so even after seven days, he still hadn't managed to leave the Myriad Mountains Ice Plain.

Under normal circumstances, three or four days would be enough for me to escape the Myriad Mountains Ice Plain. Wu Yuan mused silently. But even with the best luck and optimal route, it would still take at least several months to leave the Snowlight Mist Realm entirely.

If luck wasn't on his side and he stumbled into some treacherous area, he would perish at worst or be trapped for a long time at best.

Among the many times Wu Yuan embarked on adventures within the Inner Region and ventured into the Core Region, his unluckiest attempt had cost him several years of delays. As for returning to the Spacetime Island? That would take even longer.

Now, it's not just the inherent dangers of the Snowlight Mist Realm I have to worry about, but also over a hundred Astral Monarchs and countless immortals hell-bent on hunting me down. Wu Yuan sighed inwardly.

Trying to return on his own? It would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens!

I'll go see Nie Zhen and find out what tricks he's playing. Wu Yuan thought. Though he and Nie Zhen were at odds, he wasn't so inflexible. A strand of consciousness entered the Spacetime Immortal Voidrealm.

Inside a tavern in the Spacetime Immortal Voidrealm.

Wu Yuan swiftly arrived at the address Nie Zhen had sent him.

As he entered the private room, his eyes scanned the space and then paused—both men waiting inside were familiar faces.

"Daoist Ming Jian, it's been a while. Have you been well?" The black-robed middle-aged man smiled.

"Mi Yun." Wu Yuan's eyes narrowed.

The black-robed middle-aged man before him was none other than High Deity Mi Yun, who had previously destroyed his mana body in the Core Region of the Snowlight Mist Realm.

He could unleash the power of a seventh-stage Archimmortal while at the High Deity phase, likely ranking in the top ten among the millions of imprint bearers on the Spacetime Island.

"Daoist Ming Jian, please, have a seat," Nie Zhen, also clad in black robes, said with a grin. "Let's have a nice talk."

The three of them took their seats.

"Well, gentlemen, speak your minds," Wu Yuan said with a forced smile. "I doubt you've sought me out with good news."

"What are you saying, Daoist Ming Jian?" Nie Zhen laughed. "We invited you here because Mi Yun and I wanted to discuss a potential deal with you."

"Go on."

"Fellow Daoist, you now possess a Black Devil Star, worth three billion divine crystals. Are you confident you can return safely?" High Deity Mi Yun smiled. "With over a hundred Astral Monarchs after you, I've heard that several thousand Astral Lord-level powerhouses will storm the Snowlight Mist Realm within ten days.

If you can't escape from the Snowlight Mist Realm within a month, your death is certain," High Deity Mi Yun stated.

Wu Yuan smiled coldly, but he didn't refute his words.

After all, what Mi Yun said was true. Once thousands of Astral Lords gathered, they could theoretically block all exits from the Snowlight Mist Realm. His chances of escaping would be extremely low!

"I'm willing to offer you a way out now. Hand over the Black Devil Star to me, and I'll give you five hundred million divine crystals," High Deity Mi Yun smiled. "What do you say?"

"Ridiculous! It's worth three billion divine crystals," Wu Yuan shook his head.

Five hundred million divine crystals? That was an insult!

"It's only worth three billion when offered to an Astral Monarch. In your hands or mine, it's not worth three billion divine crystals," High Deity Mi Yun smiled, showing no anger.

"How would we conduct this transaction?" Wu Yuan asked.

No harm in hearing him out.

"My mana body is currently in the Snowlight Mist Realm, not far from the Myriad Mountains Ice Plain," High Deity Mi Yun smiled. "Go into hiding, then send me your spacetime coordinates. I'll come to find you. Once you hand over the Black Devil Star, I'll transfer the divine crystals to you through the Spacetime Immortal Voidrealm.

Even if your mana body perishes then, you won’t have made a loss.

If you don't trust me, we can establish a contract through the Spacetime Immortal Voidrealm," High Deity Mi Yun continued. He seemed quite sincere.

Wu Yuan fell silent.

"Ming Jian, we're all just immortal cultivators. The Black Devil Star is useless to us. This thing only has great value in the hands of an Astral Monarch from the Dao Realm," Nie Zhen chimed in, also trying to persuade him.

Wu Yuan smiled.

They weren't wrong; the Black Devil Star indeed wasn’t too useful for ordinary immortal cultivators.

To be precise, the Black Devil Divine Pillar and the Black Devil Star had similar effects for cultivators, only allowing them to perform part one and part two of the ‘Black Devil Blood Sacrifice’.

However, Wu Yuan had the black pagoda!

"The price is too low." Wu Yuan shook his head and said, "Mi Yun, Nie Zhen, you must understand that on the entire Spacetime Island, you two aren't the only ones who can contact Astral Monarchs from the Dao Realm."

There were several other imprint bearers with Dao comprehension at the Astral Monarch level, High Immortals and High Deities with combat prowess rivaling Astral Lords, and who had spent many years on the Spacetime Island – they all had connections to the nine major factions of the Dao Realm.

"Fine, name your price," High Deity Mi Yun smiled.

"Two billion divine crystals," Wu Yuan said calmly.

High Deity Mi Yun's smile froze.

"Ming Jian, that's too much." Nie Zhen shook his head and said, "You won't get that price from any imprint bearer. And you must understand, even if we deliver the Black Devil Star to a Dao Realm Astral Monarch, they won't give us three billion divine crystals."

"Then the deal is off. I'll try my luck with others," Wu Yuan said with a smile.

"Daoist Ming Jian, there aren't many in the Snowlight Mist Realm who are both capable and willing to help you," High Deity Mi Yun's smile slowly returned as he continued, "How about this - I'll give you my bottom line: 1.2 billion divine crystals.

That's the limit. If you come to me within ten days, I'll complete the transaction at this price," High Deity Mi Yun said. "I'm taking a risk too; you can't expect us to make no profit at all."

Wu Yuan nodded slightly. "Alright, I'll give you an answer within ten days."

With that, Wu Yuan left the room, leaving the two High Deities behind.

"Are you really going to give him 1.2 billion?" Nie Zhen asked in a low voice. "According to our deal with Astral Monarch Ya Hei, we'd only get two billion in total."

"We only get two billion divine crystals if we actually obtain the Black Devil Star," High Deity Mi Yun shook his head slightly. "If we can't get it, it's all for nothing.

Right now, Ming Jian holds all the cards. After all, he's the one with the item," High Deity Mi Yun said softly.

Nie Zhen fell silent.

"However, we can't let him lead us by the nose," High Deity Mi Yun said calmly. "My mana body is on its way, and from what I know, powerful imprint bearers from other factions are also rushing to the Snowlight Mist Realm.

They'll all be searching for traces of Ming Jian, and when they find him, they'll strike hard.

What about you?" High Deity Mi Yun looked at Nie Zhen.

"Me?" Nie Zhen hesitated, then shook his head and said, "Though I have a grudge against him, it's not a blood feud. I'm still part of the Taiyuan Divine Court lineage. We'll have to face each other again when we leave the Spacetime Dao Realm in the future."

Using others to strike at someone was one thing, but killing them directly was another matter entirely!

"I see. You might be worried about future retaliation from him, but I'm not," High Deity Mi Yun laughed. "Alright, I'll be going now. Let's see if I’m lucky enough to find Ming Jian first.

If I'm the first to find Ming Jian and kill him, I'll still share a portion of the divine crystals with you as agreed."

With that, High Deity Mi Yun departed.

…

Nie Zhen and Mi Yun were among the earliest to request a meeting with Wu Yuan. Within a day, over a thousand imprint bearers attempted to meet with Wu Yuan, all trying to negotiate a deal with him.

Of course, Wu Yuan directly refused most of those lacking sufficient strength, only speaking with a few dozen.

More than half of these were from the Taiyuan Divine Court lineage, some from the Eldritch Court lineage, and others from factions like the Eight Mountains Alliance and so on.

All the major factions were represented!

They proposed various plans, and Wu Yuan listened to them, but didn't commit to any.

…

The Myriad Mountains Ice Plain.

Whoosh! Wu Yuan was sped through the crevasse in the ice layer, nearly at the speed of light, attempting to leave the Myriad Mountains Ice Plain as quickly as possible. His whereabouts had been exposed, so the further he fled, the safer he'd be.

Many have come to negotiate with me, offering various proposals, but generally, they fall into two categories. Wu Yuan’s thoughts swirled as he fled.

The first category is transactions, those urging me to sell the Black Devil Star. These imprint bearers have connections to Astral Monarchs from the Dao Realm. The highest offer is 1.5 billion divine crystals, and the lowest is 800 million.

To say he didn’t waver at all would naturally be a lie.

1.5 billion divine crystals! Without some miraculous encounter or bestowal from his master or grandmaster, who knew how long it would take him to earn such a sum by himself?

With so many divine crystals, even the evolution of his lifebound flying swords, which had been put on hold, could be set in motion once more.

Unfortunately, the Black Devil Star has inextricable ties with the black pagoda. Even if I were to sell it in the future, it would have to wait until I return to the Spacetime Island at the very least. Wu Yuan had already thought it through.

Bringing it back to the Spacetime Island was non-negotiable.

The second category is escorting. Some imprint bearers have completed their spacetime missions but have yet to leave the Snowlight Mist Realm. If I hand the Black Devil Star to them, they can use the spacetime teleportation array to return directly to the Spacetime Island. Once back, they can deliver the Black Devil Star to my true self. Wu Yuan mused silently.

But the cost was substantial. The lowest price was fifty million divine crystals. The highest price was five hundred million divine crystals.

There were also many difficulties. For example, most of these imprint bearers were far from Wu Yuan, and even arranging a safe meeting would be challenging. More importantly, Wu Yuan didn't have enough divine crystals.

Of course, some imprint bearers were 'thoughtful' enough to give Wu Yuan the option of deferring his payment for up to five thousand years at most.

The greatest risk is that after handing it to these imprint bearers, they might not return it. Wu Yuan frowned.

For a deal like this, everyone readily agreed to sign a contract with him in the Spacetime Immortal Voidrealm.

However, aside from contracts for joint participation in spacetime missions— which the Spacetime Island fully guaranteed—other contracts lacked absolute enforcement and were vulnerable to loopholes.

When dealing with hundreds of millions or even billions of divine crystals, one couldn't be too careful.

Among the numerous imprint bearers, those he found relatively trustworthy, like Nangong Meng and Xiang Fan, were currently not in the Snowlight Mist Realm.

There’s still one path I can take. Wu Yuan thought to himself. If I truly can't trust anyone, then I'll hide the Black Devil Star in a location only known to me first, and come back for it later when I've broken through to become a High Immortal and my strength has grown.

Only those below the level of Astral Monarch could enter the Snowlight Mist Realm.

Wu Yuan comprehended both Time and Space. In the future, if he became a High Immortal, he might be able to unleash power at the Astral Lord level. Moreover, if he comprehended the Law of Space to the seventh-level True Intent stage, he could easily leave then as well.

The risk of this plan lay in the numerous variables that could arise during this span of time. If he was unlucky, the treasure might be discovered by someone by chance and taken away.

For now, I’ll attempt to bring it with me. Even if numerous Archimmortals and Astral Lords encircle me, I might still be able to escape with my mastery of Space and Time. Wu Yuan still held a glimmer of confidence.

The Snowlight Mist Realm was vast. With numerous danger zones and space mostly stabilized, finding him wouldn't be an easy task.

Whoosh! Wu Yuan continued to flee towards the outskirts of the Myriad Mountains Ice Plain, winding through twisting crevasses in the ice and frequently changing direction. Due to this, Wu Yuan couldn't maintain his top speed, only managing to stay close to the speed of light.

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